I've played about 17 hours of this so far. Here's a semi-recent stream (the most recent ones haven't been uploaded to YouTube yet):
Gears Tactics (Experienced) with ysignal 5The graphics are stellar compared to other turn-based tactics games, and it has tonnes of quality cutscenes and voice acting. The character models also look nice and detailed when the camera is up close.
The game is mostly linear and there's no strategic map or tech tree, so it's not a direct analogue to XCOM. It has a skill tree and equipment upgrades, but base character stats are determined by level and are not customizable, though you can add modifiers by equipping new gear. The combat mechanics are similar in nature to XCOM.
The main missions include some cool sequences, like fighting your way to the extraction point at the end of a mission or fighting huge bosses with targetable sub-parts. Combat segments are joined together by some nice cutscenes. So far I've seen about five enemy types (not including bosses) with combat styles ranging from melee to sniping.
Overwatch is used heavily for area denial and for luring enemies into ambushes. Unlike XCOM, Overwatch almost never misses the target if they stray into the firing cone, so it plays a big role in pretty much any battle. The AI is a bit disappointing (on Experienced, at least), and enemies have a tendency to advance into your ambushes for no good reason.
The animation of the projectiles and the projectile impacts is solid. XCOM has some issues in this area, like bullets ghosting through walls and characters jumping out of the path of incoming shots in unnatural-looking ways. Phoenix Point used a ballistic simulation that didn't suffer from these problems, but Gears Tactics manages to look just as convincing while sticking with dice-rolling mechanics.
Overall I'm still pretty enthusiastic about this game. The developers released a new "Jacked" mode which adds the support robot Jack as a fifth squad member plus some other additions, but I'd have to start my save again to see this content and it's not the kind of game I'd like to replay 17 hours of, so I might continue on with the original mode regardless.